Intravenous catheters for the infusion of fluids and medicine into the peripheral veins of a patient are one of the most common devices used in the medical profession where patients require medical care or surgery. Health care professionals are as such, frequently required to place the distal end of such a catheter within the confines of a vein or artery of the patient. Properly positioned, such a catheter allows the health care provider to communicate blood, drugs, plasma, and other fluids into the circulatory system of a patient directly yielding immediate results. It also provides a direct venous access line for hospital personnel, to allow for immediate intravenous care upon arrival at a hospital.
However, this procedure when performed by unskilled hands can be painful and cause trauma to the patient. Some medical professionals require years to learn to properly place the flexible catheter in a patent, while imparting minimal pain and discomfort to the patient. In cases where the patient may be chilled or otherwise have small venous cavities, or an adult with collapsed or impaired veins or arteries, proper placement of the catheter can be exceptionally hard to accomplish, especially if the medical professional is less than adept at the procedure. During insertion of a catheter into a patient's blood vessel, a catheter insertion device commonly known as an introducer is conventionally employed. Such devices conventionally are equipped with a hollow needle which is inserted to puncture both the skin of the patient, and if properly placed, puncture only one wall of the intended blood vessel. The catheter device rides on the exterior of the rigid needle of the introducer.
During catheter placement with the introducer, once the needle punctures the skin, it must then be blindly, but successfully, communicated through underlying tissue, with minimal damage thereto, and puncture one wall of the intended blood vessel without extending too far that the opposing side of the blood vessel is punctured. With the distal end of the needle properly placed, blood travels through the length of the hollow needle and exits into a viewable flash chamber of the introducer, in a surge called a flashback.
In typical catheter insertion assemblies, for use by emergency personnel the user removes and disposes the contaminated needle after puncturing one wall of the intended blood vessel and a subsequent slight translation of the distal end of the catheter prior to needle removal.
However, emergency responders and care takers can be required to achieve a proper catheter placement in conditions far removed from the warm and well lighted hospital or doctors office. On a dark roadway or in other less than desirable conditions, the catheter still must be inserted and properly placed in the vein of the patient irrespective of lighting conditions, weather, and temperature.
One mode for emergency responders to deal with such challenging conditions is to hold a small flashlight between their teeth. Light from this flashlight is projected on the intended insertion target on the arm, hand or leg, whereafter the medical professional or emergency responder will pick a position on the skin of the patient for needle puncture and then attempt to blindly find the vein of choice for the puncture by the needle and subsequent catheter insertion prior to needle removal.
As can be discerned, it can be very hard for the medical professional or emergency responder to illuminate the puncture site and then to insert a needle and actually find the blood vessel hidden from sight below the skin of the patient. Further, even if they navigate by touch or intuition to a blood vessel, it can be very hard to know one side has been punctured unless the blood flows sufficiently fast to the flash chamber of the introducer to inform the medical professional they have punctured the blood vessel and have blood flow. Many times, in the haste that emergencies require, both sides of the intended vessel can be punctured.
As such, there is an unmet need for an intravascular catheter insertion device and method, which will provide illumination of the intended puncture site, prior to insertion. Such a device and method should also provide the user with a viewable position of the needle, and the surrounding catheter once translated under the skin, to ascertain the progress toward a blood vessel. Further, such a device should visually inform the user they have indeed punctured a blood vessel immediately upon such an occurrence to provide a faster or at least a concurrent notice to the user of proper needle insertion through only one side of a blood vessel. Finally, such a device and method should be low in cost to encourage use and be easily adapted into the employed standards for catheters and introducers used widely in the medical field.
The forgoing examples of related art and limitation related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive, and they do not imply any limitations on the invention described and claimed herein. Various limitations of the related art will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading and understanding of the specification below and the accompanying drawings.